Make Texas count in primaries

Lyle Larson, For the Express-News

Published 12:00 am, Sunday, January 3, 2016

The presidential primary debates are well under way, and the candidates are scurrying about in three small states, hoping to secure the few electoral votes to be had. Recently, some presidential hopefuls have publicly objected to the idea of moving the primary date to position other states ahead of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, while sharing their excitement for Texas' improved position in the contest.

Though Texas' position in 2016 is better than election cycles past, there could be a better way to approach the presidential primary election process: implement a wheel rotation for states that hold these elections to ensure that no one state has undue influence on the nominating process.

Most Popular

To best illustrate why a rotating primary schedule makes sense, examine the differences between the states currently positioned first and Texas, which is a microcosm of the nation and represents far more delegates.

By the time Texans have the opportunity to vote, the race is all but decided. The last time Texas mattered was the 1976 primary between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

Allowing Texas, and other more diverse and populous states to hold presidential primaries first would result in a more robust discussion of issues facing Americans. Many of the issues impacting the 26 million people in Texas that have largely been ignored by the federal government would finally be part of the national discussion. The candidates’ ideas on border security in the state with the largest border with Mexico would be part of the debate early on, along with immigration, carbon dioxide emission rules, national health care policy, and military and veteran issues would be front and center, instead of conversations dominated by ethanol subsidies and other narrow issues that exclusively affect residents of today’s early primary states.

Historically, national party organizations have threatened to penalize states that move their primary election dates ahead by reducing their delegates to the national convention. However, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus’ recent comments indicating that the GOP should consider adjusting the presidential primary schedule is encouraging.

Larger states that are better demographic representations of our nation should no longer tolerate playing second fiddle to states that are a fraction of their size and are far less impacted by federal overreach and abdication of responsibilities. It is time for both national parties to adopt a rotating schedule to ensure each state is given an opportunity to play a meaningful role in this process.